Anybody else no longer love this country? Hesitated to post, but gotta get this off my chest.

[Goodheart]

I can't stomach the rampant hypocrisy, the racism, the birtherism, the anti-scientism. That one half of this country could vote for an obvious hideous monstrous moronic evil con man is almost too much for me to bear.

Aside from the matter that Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden are not allowing immigrants from the USA I would already be planning my permanent move, even when it looks like Joe Biden has won.

And as for my home state, Louisiana: you FUCKING BUMS. Three hurricanes, losing coastine at the rate of a football field every hour, sea levels rising to drown out our southern cities.... beggars screaming for Federal help every time a disaster strikes, which is quite often and at the same time lambasting "big government" and "socialism".... FUCK YOU, my fellow Louisianians. You embarrass me to no end.

[lagomorph777]

1. I view it as half the population is gullible and brainwashed.

We have to hack the brainwashing machines (Fux, Falsebook, Twit). We can do this.

[calimary]

88. And don't forget hate radio.

That’s a big part of it, too, seeping into the rural areas where radio is a prevailing companion on long empty roads. Like a slow poison.

Hate radio has to be bought up, station by station, and with format changes imposed. Play the hits. Make it Muzak. No talk more music. New owners: you can syndicate oldies for cheap!

[lagomorph777]

89. Yes! Point is, their gullibility is their vulnerability. We can easily hack them if we try.

[Tumbulu]

100. Yes!!!!!! Nt!

[mountain grammy]

127. Yep

that's why the madman gave rush the Medal of Freedom.. And now I have to puke

[jeaps]

132. Absolutely!

A few years ago I had to drive cross country several times. It is appalling what is on local radio. Tune in it get a weather report/traffic report and get a healthy dose of right wing propaganda. Couple that with all the dodgy religious programming and an alternate universe is created.

[Upthevibe]

141. calimary....

100%....The damage that Limbaugh and those of his ilk have done CAN NOT be overstated! And your narrative could not be more spot on.....

[weissmam]

219. once rush bites the dust (with no capable to take his place)

hate radio will loose influence

[wnylib]

223. They are privately owned stations

or chains. Not much chance of making them change. They are owned or backed in some cases by people who can afford to run them without a profit even if they lose advertisers.

Instead of changing them, we would do better to develop our own stations and media chains that deliver accurate reporting and support for our values, combined with entertainment that draws people in. These stations could have guests, discussions of issues, programs with topics on political norms and how government works. But entertainment is important to make it fun, in the form of music, comedians, call-in game shows with political and social questions, and maybe some old and new radio dramas. I know of a station that does radio dramas (usually old mysteries) that are popular in their listening area.

Compete hate radio out of their market by providing better alternatives. Added bonus of getting reliable information to low info people.

[certainot]

234. today limbaugh started by saying trump won, called Kamala 'kommie' for short, after he called her

"ho" as in "joe and the ho" when biden chose her VP, and claimed her call to count the ballots was proof dems were trying to steal the election because ballots are not votes......

and "kommie" will be her nickname among trumpers

From fakenewsradio.org 94 radio stations in 6 critical states, featuring Limbaugh, often including the loudest in any state, depend on 24 universities to keep crapping on their mission statements and broadcasting sports on them to help them use those associations to attract advertisers.

In Pennsylvania 14  Limbaugh stations, often the loudest in the state depend on 3 Pennsylvania universities —  Penn St. 11, Pittsburgh 2, Temple 1.

In Florida, 20 Limbaugh stations —  Florida 10, Florida St. 4 Miami 2, South Florida 2, Central Florida 2

In Michigan, 19  —  Michigan St. 11, Michigan 7, Western Michigan 1

In North Carolina, 16 —  North Carolina 8, North Carolina State 3, Duke 3, East Carolina 2

In Ohio, 10 —  Ohio St. 6, Toledo 1, Dayton 1, Bowling Green 1, Xavier 1

In Georgia 14 —  Georgia 7, Georgia Tech 5, Georgia Southern 2

And in Arizona —  Arizona St. 1

All those schools are good places to protest because as long as they can be used to attract advertising they are helping Trump. It is irrelevant how a particular school reacts to activism that gets media attention to this issue because it will scare advertisers and will attract activism to the other schools including at least 64 other universities that do the same.

The advertising industry will worry about a trend and if they finally have to start asking advertisers if they actually support trump, racism, global warming in order to protect them from boycotts and bad PR the RW radio monopoly will have to be broken up. The ad industry wants those 50 million pairs of ears and they don’t want to have to ask those questions.

Along with artificial intelligence making it easy, cheap, and accurate for any activist to transcribe their local blowhards and list advertisers with little listening required the ad industry will have to act and put Limbaugh and sons out to pasture.

Not to mention that Limbaugh, who told millions for years that smoking doesn’t cause lung cancer, is dying from terminal stage 4 lung cancer. The talk radio monopoly that made Trump possible and  keeps Republicans in these elections and is now calling for disrupting the vote counts was made for him and he can’t be replaced with one person. They’re going to lose a lot of ad revenue when he croaks. 

All the advertisers, universities, and pro sports teams broadcasting on 1500 Republican talk radio stations share responsibility for the Trump COVID disasters, and they need to be told.

[calimary]

248. And limbaugh won't be around much longer.

There will be others scrambling to claim his “crown” but the loss will be great (in several senses of the word!).

[certainot]

249. i hope he gets to see trump hauled out of the white house like what's his name in fargo at the end

when he tries to escape out the motel window

[calimary]

250. And there better be an inspection of all luggage and crates and other stuff leaving the White House

as of, well, maybe, TONIGHT.

[certainot]

251. they will steal and i'll bet every first family gets some slack but staff needs to watch the gold...

tonight would be nice but they're saying penn and georgia might take a few hours

lost a lot of sleep lately, not sure how long i'll stay up. it would be sad if the morning joe crew got to break it

on the positive side a republican insider says the republican establishment is really sick of trump. their future is tied to how he leaves

[samsingh]

150. many of those are racist, self centred

[DownriverDem]

165. I'm shocked

that 50% of Americans are pure racists and don't care that over 200,000 Americans have died from Covid 19 due to trump's incompetence. How do we fight that or do we have to wait for them to die?

[wnylib]

226. We fight it by taking back the word "patriot"

Last edited Thu Nov 5, 2020, 11:45 AM - Edit history (1)

and giving people alternative leadership. Take back the flag, too. RWers do not own it.

Be proud of who we are and what we stand for.

[Bucky]

243. We're the country of Lincoln and King and Guthrie and Chisolm and Gompers and Darrow

When you create opportunity, you get capitalist leeches. Every country in the world has this problem. We're not perfect, we've done atrocities as bad as any country in the world. But we also pioneered traditions of looking out for the little guy, expanding democracy to include a multiracial society, championing equality for women. Those are our traditions and we should uphold them and carry them forward against the reactionaries and scaredy cats who want to turn society backwards.

We have to live in hope instead of fear.

[wnylib]

244. Completely agree. Hope over fear.

Confidence over anxiety. Lead America into a better future than the present.

Trump has appealed to the worst in human nature. We will bring out the best. It won't be easy and we will have opposition. But we can do it. We have before. We will again.

[live love laugh]

2. I can't stomach lying cheating thieving Republicans. I ❤️ America.

[SunSeeker]

114. +1

[Bucky]

239. +2

I love this country and its ideals and its cluttered history of not living up to those ideals... See we only know that we haven't lived up to our potential because there's always voices speaking truth to power and advancing the real calling of the Enlightenment that started this country off.

[hlthe2b]

3. I'm having trouble keeping perspective too. Take a break. Keep up from reliable news sites

and look after yourself. Otherwise, you'll be taking off the heads of all you encounter as I felt like doing last night.

[Yavin4]

4. Last night has taught me that I need to move out of this country.

I praying that Biden holds on, and that buys me 4 years to get out.

[sfstaxprep]

25. This Is Exactly Where I'm At

I see things getting worse for decades to come. I'm 54, and I don't want to spend the latter years of my life living through the decline of America.

[moonscape]

47. Don't blame you. I'm trapped by age and health without the

option to leave. The last 4 years have been so stressful, and I'm starved for relief from it, some mental peace. Not how I imagined my last years. Would definitely leave if I could.

[marlakay]

134. Hubby and I feel same way

64 & 71. He wants to move and I said where? And we don't have enough money and what would healthcare there be like...

I just feel like I spent the last 4 yrs holding my breath and just want a peaceful retirement.

[Boomer]

232. Too late for me

My wife and i feel so out of step with America that we talked about leaving for years. It never worked out and now it's too late due to health concerns. We're comfortable financially, so we'll just hunker down and ride it out for what is left of our lives.

[onlyadream]

87. I'm 54 too and feel the same way.

I know the "stay and fight" thing is strong, but I just want peace. Hubby got a remote job in Montreal, so I'm trying to convince him that maybe we should entertain the idea of moving there.

[world wide wally]

116. I'm right there with you...

Been fighting since Vietnam and have been glad to do what i could. But fighting is for the young and I just want peace now. Just gimme some truth and peace.

[Upthevibe]

144. world wide wally....

[world wide wally]

167. Thanks... Love it!

[Maven]

27. Exactly.

This is my thinking as well.

It's clear that we will never return to a functional democracy (if we ever were one) and the next time, the pendulum will swing in the opposite direction for good.

[mountain grammy]

46. At 73 this isn't practical for me

but I'm encouraging my grandchildren to explore other options

[McKim]

90. Yes!!!!! Too Old to Leave Now

Yes, I am too old to leave now. I have been begging my husband to immigrate since 2000. I have Medicare here and really can't leave and don't want to go without hubby. But I encourage our daughter and son in law and any young person to get out while they can.

[secondwind]

69. Son and daughter-in-law fast expressed two passports

for their little girls, 2 and 3 yrs old. Yesterday, they were prepared to get out.

Not sure about right now.

[Blue_true]

106. Where will you go that doesn't have the ills that you "leave behind"?

No place on earth like that, unless you can find a place untouched by people and have no contact with people.

[Yavin4]

107. Toronto, Canada.

A sane nation. Not perfect by any means, but it is sane.

[Layzeebeaver]

137. I moved out 12 years ago

now in the UK.

Different geography same shit show...

[Bucky]

240. Bah! People always say they're gonna leave the US. They never do.

It's all talk. I hope each of you find your peace. I'm skeptical that there's a better chance of finding your bliss in Costa Rica. I've had three different friends try to move overseas. They each came back chastised by the experience.

[ret5hd]

5. I love the idea of and the ideals of...

the idealized country taught in children’s books.

The reality...not so much.

[Boomerproud]

19. The reality-stupid, lazy and selfish.

[ret5hd]

34. A nation of spoiled children...

A nation of spoiled trust-fund babies that believe that everything...from bridges to sunny skies...is eternal and the birthright of anyone that looks and prays like them.

[plimsoll]

93. I accept that a culture doesn't always live up to it's ideals.

That being said, normal people, moral people, rational people are embarrassed by their failures. Apparently our cultural ideals only matter to the GOP when they can be held against Democrats, actually expecting the GOP to try to live up to them is a fools errand.

As for normal emotions of not living up to your ideals, it's just more evidence that the GOP followers are no longer able to experience shame, empathy or reason. I don't believe it was always thus, but as the saying goes power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[Harker]

130. "America - it was a good idea"...

That replaces "E pluribus unum" for my little motto pick.

[Lars39]

6. I thought we had progressed since my dad's time,

the Great Depression, where votes were bought and the klan ruled, but I now realize we haven't progressed that much at all in some areas.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. I feel exactly the same. It's a desire to live among people who value science, act with morals

and decency, and treat all living things humanely.

[Goodheart]

10. I feel like crying.

[Upthevibe]

147. Goodheart.....

I just posted John Lennon's Just Give Me Some Truth and I feel better. It feels more empowering to feel angry than sad....Try giving it a listen and see if it helps.....

[BKDem]

95. The mouth-breathing, know-nothing trophy hunters (picture DJT Jr.)

are starting to make me physically ill.

[Upthevibe]

155. sinking feeling.....

That's the thing. It's about CORE VALUES!!!...being a decent human being!

[Klaralven]

8. There's a sucker born every minute

Although maybe PT Barnum didn't say it, the phrase has been in use since the mid-19th Century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute

[ElementaryPenguin]

9. I did love it, but I DON'T any longer!!!

It would be like loving Germany when it's occupied by 43% Nazis!!

[BannonsLiver]

11. Our country's soul is rotten to its core

And that’s probably not going to change in my lifetime and I’m early middle age.

The rest of the world looks upon us with puzzlement, contempt and horror. Justifiably so. I wish my ancestors had never left Scotland and Ireland.

[Polly Hennessey]

48. I agree.

I wish my ancestors had stayed in Cornwall and Lincolnshire and my husbands had stayed in Ireland. It is depressing watching this great experiment fail. We simply have too many ignorant, greedy people and they seem to
have the upper hand. Please let us all turn our backs on Florida. It is lost in more ways than one. Climate change may help sink some of it.

[get the red out]

50. Agree!

I am right there with you!

[mtnsnake]

12. I love the blue aspects of this country

and have had it with the red parts.

[Butterflylady]

131. Without the blue parts of this country

The red parts wouldn't be able to survive.

[PirateRo]

13. Right with you

I’m disgusted by what I’m seeing.

[northoftheborder]

14. I empathize with you. Can NOT understand the large vote for a

con-man, a crook, a racist, mysogynist, an uneducated incompetent, who is vengeful, a liar, hypocrite, bully, totally selfish, physically ugly, charmless.....and more.......UGH! And is proud of himself for all that! And all of this is PUBLIc KNOWLEDGE!

[bif]

15. I'm with you 100%

This country disgusts me. I consider myself a citizen of the world and don't feet much loyalty to this country. I'd move to Canada if I could in a heartbeat.

[Freddie]

21. Me too

But I’m 64 and no other country wants me.
Wish my great-grandparents had never gotten on that boat from England.

[bif]

29. I'm 66 and semi-retired

But one can hope!

[moonscape]

53. I felt loyalty to the country I grew up in, but not this one n/t

[soothsayer]

16. I'm here to help fulfill our ideals

I embrace what we yearn to be. We’re still a very young nation. Growing pains are to be expected.

We’re still a work in progress.

[Bucky]

242. Thank you

beautifully said

[Ninga]

17. We have never stopped fighting the Civil War. It is evident.

[Mike 03]

22. Exactly. I didn't understand how the interests of the Alt-Right and Christian

Nationalists intersected until I read The Power Worshippers by Katherine Stewart and Unholy by Sara Posner.

This is something we cannot ignore any longer. Although, I am not sure how we fight it. It is global and extremely well funded.

[Ninga]

32. Yes not only what you point out, but added is the 30 year campaign by Right wing media hammering

Democrats into a mold that cries out socialism.

[TheRealNorth]

18. No, but I do now know that

nearly half the Country want to burn down our Democracy, and along with it they would like to line people like me up in front of a trench and shoot.

[Mike 03]

20. I'm on the same wavelength. It's very hard to accept what is becoming too obvious to

ignore. A huge segment of our population would accept authoritarian dictatorship and has had enough of democracy. People here will say, "We knew that," but in fairness I didn't know the number of them was so great.

This is going to be the conflict of our times. Hyperpartisan populism is on the upswing in Europe too.

It's almost unspeakable: people are rejecting Democracy. They want a strongman to tell them what to do and make every problem go away.

[bdamomma]

149. It's so sad

We are at this juncture, Horrible. I just hope all votes are counted.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

23. There's too many poorly educated Americans.

I have no desire to live near rural dummies nor near urban areas with horribly-rated public schools (at least in my area), but the islands of higher education seem to get more narrow over time in this country.

[peacebuzzard]

184. +1 for the first statement.

but I live near rural dummies. you just learn to live the life of a loner, for the most part, it is cheaper than some blue spots.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

187. Yeah, it's generally less expensive.

I was fortunate to attend a highly-rated suburban public school, apparently, because I was repeatedly SHOCKED by what some recent coworkers didn't know. The company was located about 25 miles away from my home in a semi-rural area, and most of the other employees had attended smaller rural schools in that area.

Their major shortcomings were science-related, even very basic topics. One coworker expressed great dismay to recently learn that yogurt contained "little bugs" after she read in a magazine that's how it helped digestion, so she declared that she'd never eat yogurt again. I pointed out that microbes and yeast were all around us and in all food to some degree, but that just agitated her even more.

[peacebuzzard]

190. lol!!

that is great. I have heard about the "little bugs" in another language describing the culture of yogurt. How funny!
Glad to find humor again. Its been a long 4 years.

[DTomlinson]

191. I'm sorry if there's too much riff-raff for the enlightened ones.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

196. It's not easy.

Only 6% of scientists identify as Republicans according to a survey from a few years ago, and I'm sorry if that kind of Democratic support isn't welcome.

[LakeArenal]

24. We didn't plan our move to Costa Rica politically.

But once here, politically thrilled we are here. Applying for Residency.

[Goodheart]

28. How's the weather there?

[LakeArenal]

62. It's tropical. Different all over though.

Two coasts. They are warmer more humid.
We chose Lake Arenal in the mountains. We have a million dollar view of the Lake and across the street is a rain forest.

So we have lots of tropical rain. But mountain breezes and the tourist season is very nice. Sorta like Florida inthe sense you can follow the sun around. Up here there is little air conditioning.

There are so many different ecosystems.

I know people who would love living here. Others would hate it. Bugs are huge and plentiful. Snakes. We found a tarantula a month ago. But we love all that stuff.
https://postimg.cc/GBVQVynq]
[/img

https://postimg.cc/30CFkf4c]

[jayschool2013]

151. What do your monthly expenses total?

Can a modest pensioner live in CR? Asking for a friend. And myself.

[LakeArenal]

159. Well we lost 75% of our retirement with Bush' depression.

I don’t really want to reveal all the costs.
But We have a very cute 1 bedroom Cabina with use of a pool. $700 a month.
Would be much cheaper if it didn’t have the view.

To get Residency you need at least $1000 per person in SS, income, or annuities. We do make that.

Although 90% off the fossil fuels, CR has the 2nd most $$ electricity in the world
But we need no heat or AC where we live.

Food is about the same as US but US brands costly. Hormel bacon about $11 and Johnsonville brats about $10 for five. If you can find them. An hour away is Liberia with airport, Walmart, PriceSmart and almost everyfast food.

Gas is $5 a gallon.

If you move here, be prepared to buy a car here. We shipped our Kia and it is really costly to fix. US Kia parts from Mexico and Tico Kia parts are from China. Not interchangeable. Trust me on that on.
You would have to get new phone service.
Until you get residency you have to prepay phone service.

Everyone here uses What’s App

Labor is cheap. $2-4 per hour. No lawn mowers in this part. Handymen use weedwhackers for everything. Lots of expats have housekeepers and ground keepers.

A pretty nice house for under $200000
In a nice community. But a house can be found livable for $100000 or less.

[jayschool2013]

172. THANKS!

We're not pork eaters, but thank you for the comparisons.

[Golfnbrew]

74. health care?

I would LOVE to leave, at this point. But Canada is quite strict with its policy, no matter the friendliness and proximity. I need good healthcare for my wife and I - she's a cancer survivor - and I'm not bad off, but I'm not young. Retiring in 30 days.

[LakeArenal]

101. If we get residency we get universal health care.

Our application has recently been completed and sent to immigration. Nothing is certain. Sometimes takes six months sometimes years.

It is a much bigger undertaking than we thought. Read lots of books. Lots of YouTube’s in living wherever you choose.
Believe nothing you read. Including me.
Once here we realized everyone’s experience is very different yet very much the same.
You have to be a patient person. Where ever you go there will be expat groups. Ours teaches Spanish for free. Find them.
If you can find one Ex-pat that knows everything it’s a godsend. We lucked out tremendously on that. Them we made one Tico friend that speaks excellent English. Those two and an expat group are the best avenue into the culture.

Edit: LIVING in a new country is 100% different than visiting for a week.

[mahina]

26. That is an extremely complicated question, from Hawai'i.

We are a family of veterans back to the Revolution, Civil War, WWII, Korea, Vietnam.

We are a family from the illegally overthrown Kingdom of Hawai’i.

I love the people fighting for the future and standing in line to vote and marching and kneeling, John Lewis and Elijah Cummings and RBG and Thurgood Marshall and Barack Obama. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Jeff Merkley and Al Franken.

Can I love the motherfuckers like Cawthorne, 25, never held a job before and now a US Representative of NC CD11 who last night tweeted “Cry more, libs”? Not at the moment, no. He defeated Moe Davis, see bio immediately below. I bet he could use some help retiring campaign debt. I’ll give some more and I hope DU will too.

Anyway.

I am able to hold this moment in complicated duality and holding more complex multiple truths.
I am Christian but not a good enough Christian to love the cretins who are working to end our democracy just now.

But I do love you, DU. Hold fast.

Moe Davis is a retired Air Force Colonel, Director of the Air Force Judiciary and former Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. He has been a law professor, judge, speaker, writer and national security expert for Congress.

Add to that a list of honors Davis has earned that includes the prestigious Legion of Merit, six Meritorious Service Medals, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Headquarters Air Force Judge Advocate of the Year award, among others.

If that were all he accomplished in his life, Col. Davis would already have a career unmatched by most. And yet, that is not what truly defines him. It is the decisions made and the stands he has taken in the critical gut-check moments of his life that make Col. Moe Davis the right candidate to represent North Carolina’s 11th District in Congress.

Morris D. Davis, the son of a man 100 percent disabled by an accident while in the Army preparing to serve in World War II, was born and raised in Shelby, N.C. He graduated from Appalachian State and North Carolina Central School of Law. Shortly after Davis passed the bar exam, his father died of a heart attack. In part to honor his father, Davis decided to join the Air Force, the start of a 25-year career of service in the military, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel. That service began with an oath to the Constitution.

He put his entire career on the line to take a stand for that oath.

DOWNLOAD MOE'S CV
In 2007, while serving as Chief Prosecutor for Terrorism Trials at Guantanamo Bay, Col. Davis dared to publicly take on the Bush Administration. He refused an order to use evidence obtained through torture, believing it was both immoral and illegal and the evidence unreliable. That decision came at a price; to uphold his principles and maintain his oath, Col. Davis had no choice but to resign his prestigious position as Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay.

For his stand against torture and the political pressure placed on prosecutors at Guantanamo, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) honored Col. Davis by including him in, “Those Who Dared: 30 Officials Who Stood Up For Our Country.”

That was not the last time Col. Davis stood up for what he believed was right. In 2009, after retiring from the Air Force, he was working as an assistant director and senior specialist in national security for the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress. But when he wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that was critical of the Obama Administration’s handling of prosecutions at Guantanamo Bay, Col. Davis was fired.

Davis challenged his dismissal in court, arguing that the First Amendment protected the free speech rights of government employees. Represented by the ACLU, he ultimately won a settlement in his suit. He was honored with the Justice Charles E. Whittaker Award for professional courage and integrity, and was given the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award.

Why take a stand and risk his career again and again? As Col. Davis said, borrowing from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s familiar theme, “It’s always the right time to do the right thing.”

Col. Davis went on to become a law professor at the historic Howard University and served four years as a judge with the U.S. Department of Labor before moving to Asheville, where he and his wife Lisa recently built their home. They have one daughter, Ashley, who lives in Falls Church, Virginia.

Back home in North Carolina, Davis is taking a stand once again in his life. He hopes to serve as Congressman in the 11th District and give Western North Carolina a true voice in Washington.

Experience. Leadership. Integrity.

Moe.

[mtngirl47]

146. Thanks for saying what I have been thinking!

I will save your words on my desktop next to the words of John Lewis: “Never give up. Never give in. Never become hostile… Hate is too big a burden to bear.”

I am in NC 11 and I am appalled that we elected Cawthorne. I know he just benefited from being down-ballot from Trump...but for crying out loud!

[mahina]

178. ❤️

🤙🏼🤙🏼

[Steelrolled]

30. I still love this country.

In spite of the fact that it has plenty of flaws. There are also many great things.

Stay off of social media and cable news stations, and your life will improve.

The travel bans are just that, and will go away in 2021 (once the vaccine takes hold). But after that, immigration isn't easy, and you might not like what you find (for different reasons).

[Goodheart]

33. I want to live in Toronto. Most diverse, welcoming place I've ever been.

[murielm99]

51. My daughter lives there.

She married a Canadian citizen. She says they have their share of assholes, too.

[EllieBC]

80. We have LOTS of racism. Ask any First Nations member.

We are just quieter about it. It’s easy to hide your flaws when you live next to the US.

[Steelrolled]

117. Conversely, there is a growing part of American culture that says "we are shit".

There are many reasons I imagine, but I think that the Internet, cables news, and social media have amplified it. People seem to want to be a little louder, a little coarser, etc. A great example is the fact that the word "literal" has lost its meaning.

[Ananda62]

129. I agree

I’m a person of color and lived in Canada from age 1-18. I experienced the worst racism of my life in Alberta (where Ai spent my childhood).

[bdamomma]

152. But they

have no tRump.

[EllieBC]

76. Believe it or not there are things better in the US than here.

For instance, we do not have an equivalent to the Americans with disabilities act. We don’t have a federal mandate to guarantee education to children with special needs. We don’t have a federally mandated school lunch program. A lot of things in Canada are left up to the provinces and I’m gonna be honest with you a lot of them are pretty bad with it.

The grass is always greener until you have to live with it.

[Spazito]

122. So, are you planning to move back to the US?

You shouldn't have to put up with awful BC, Canada.

[EllieBC]

168. Honestly I do miss it for things like education for special needs kids.

An IEP doesn’t hold the same weight here as it does in the US.

And yes my husband put in an application for his green card.

Nice try at the gotcha though! You get a gold star for the attempt.

[Spazito]

171. Really? An IEP in all states in the US carries a greater weight than...

in B.C., Canada?

BC government policy regarding Students with Special Needs:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/legislation-policy/public-schools/special-education


Individual Education Plan Order

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/legislation/schoollaw/e/m638-95.pdf



US Dept of Education policy on Students with Special Needs:

Please note that in the U.S., the federal role in education is limited. Because of the Tenth Amendment, most education policy is decided at the state and local levels. So, if you have a question about a policy or issue, you may want to check with the relevant organization in your state or school district.

https://www2.ed.gov/policy/landing.jhtml

So, it seems like States are primarily responsible for policies for Students with Special Needs just like Canada.

Which States do you prefer and feel have better policies than BC, Canada?

[EllieBC]

173. I deal with this daily with my 2 special needs kids.

The province is also supposed to give funding to the districts for kids with ASD diagnosis. They don’t always. They do not always follow the IEP and you have no recourse. Who you going to sue?

But you who don’t live here and don’t have to deal with this can just pretend that you know better because you are so busy being so American by hating being an American.

[Spazito]

175. I did live there, in BC, and worked on policy for Children with Special Needs, both at...

the local and Provincial level. It looks like your issue is at the School District level and it's Special Needs Program and who is making the decision on allocation of funds. You can go to the Principal first which may not get you anywhere and, if that is the case, you then go to the Board, attend their public meetings, go to the media, and even lodge a complaint with the Ministry of Education after you follow all the tedious processes.

I am going to guess you live in a District where the 'Liberals' (they are actually an amalgam of failed conservative parties) were in power as they tend to 'reallocate' Special Needs funding, sadly.

Are you happy the NDP won with such a great turnout? The NDP certainly has shown a greater concern for special needs children than any 'Liberal' government, that's for sure.

I am ignoring your vitriol assuming it is venting.

[EllieBC]

208. Your gotchas are so fail it's almost hilarious.

Here let me play along. No I wish the liberals still ruled! Is that what you want? Sorry, not going to get that.

Our riding has been NDP. And the NDP hasn’t done anymore. Likely because they were held back by the cons who recycle prior to the recent election. Maybe now that they don’t need he greens they can handle things better. They haven’t delivered smaller class sizes. My grade 6 kid is in a class of 28. With 1 EA balancing 3 kids with varying degrees of ASD. Don’t tell me that’s just a district issue. That’s a provincial issue too because if you visit any BC group for parents of special needs children you will see the same complaint over and over all through the province. Added to that is exclusion practices that have driven many special-needs parents into unwanted homeschooling situations.

So stop acting like it’s a bed of roses here.

[Spazito]

212. There is nowhere that is a bed of roses and that includes...

your homeland.

I do think our education system is better as is our healthcare system but each to our own.

The needs of Children with Special Needs have never been addressed fully, sadly, because funding is never adequate regardless of which country we are discussing.

I hope your husband gets his green card soon, you obviously would be happier in your home country and I sincerely hope you are able to receive the care and support your children need.

I admit there were some gotchas and there probably should not have been, you have enough on your plate with three children in need of the care and attention you seek for them.

[marble falls]

246. I think you vented enough.

[EllieBC]

174. I deal with this daily with my 2 special needs kids.

The province is also supposed to give funding to the districts for kids with ASD diagnosis. They don’t always. They do not always follow the IEP and you have no recourse. Who you going to sue?

But you who don’t live here and don’t have to deal with this can just pretend that you know better because you are so busy being so American by hating being an American. So hip.

My home state of NY does better, at least from the perspective of my family members who are teachers of children with diverse learning needs. California which is where I lived before I came here was ok.

[Spazito]

176. I see you added info re NY and California...

Do you have a link to the Special Needs policy from each of those States? I would love to read them. Thanks.

[marble falls]

247. He's trolling you. Ignore him.

[Laha]

86. That's my home!

I love this place. So many different people from so many parts of the world, I love just walking down the street and hearing all the different languages used even if I can't understand a word said.

[mahina]

180. Appreciated

Good points

[Mike 03]

31. I still love the country, but I despise that 40% of my fellow Americans

don't understand the fundamental principles of our founding, and are ready to give up democracy because they don't really understand why they suffer and have been told to blame progressive policies.

It comes down to: how much compassion can one have for people who are severely ignorant and gullible?

[Goodheart]

35. Only 40%? You're being generous.

[BannonsLiver]

58. It's more like 48-49

[wnylib]

230. Then we need to fight back with

Last edited Thu Nov 5, 2020, 11:51 AM - Edit history (1)

info programs. We need to find and create ways to upgrade the general population's knowledge level. Instead of mourning their ignorance and wishing they were different we could form local groups and brainstorm what we can do to promote our own values. Acting is therapeutic and more productive than feeling helplessly victimized by the ignorance of others.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

36. I love the concept and the ideals. We have never lived up to those ideals,

and our history is full of terrible things that we don't like to talk about, like slavery and genocide and discrimination and oppression. I think those bad things have festered for a very long time, at least in part because we (by "we" I mean mostly privileged white people) got away with those things and we internalized them. As a country we became prosperous because we stole the land of Native people and the labor of enslaved Black people. But we don't like to think about that because it was terrible and we got away with it. We have gotten away with so many bad things that we think we are entitled to keep doing them without recognizing how bad they are. So we enable a government that refuses to help the poor, that refuses to educate its children, that refuses to treat its sick, and we keep getting away with it as long as we can make ourselves believe that those others deserve what happens to them and we aren't responsible.

When I was in grade school learning American history in the late '50s/early '60s we were taught about "Manifest Destiny," the idea that American settlers in the 19th century were entitled to the land they took from Native people, who didn't deserve that land, because the settlers were destined by God to remake the continent for themselves. All we learned about slavery was that it was bad but Lincoln freed the slaves so it's all fine now. We were fat, dumb, happy little white kids who believed America was the best country in the world and we were therefore the best people in the world because that's what we were taught, even if not in so many words.

It took the Vietnam war to make me start realizing that most of what I'd learned about our history was bullshit. And the older I get the more I understand that we are not such hot shit after all. It's been a process of great disillusionment to compare what we should be to what we are.

[llmart]

41. You said it so much better than I did.

I grew up when you did as a little white, albeit not privileged, girl and was taught all those things in an all white, rural classroom. The difference is that I had parents and one grandparent who disavowed me of most of the stuff I was taught in school. I was told to fake saying the pledge of allegiance (even that term "allegiance" didn't sit right with me) and never to say "Under God". My parents were not churchgoers or affiliated with any religion. My mother and father taught me to question everything. And yes, the Viet Nam war reinforced everything they taught me.

[mahina]

84. Word.

With you on this.

[Steelrolled]

121. Fortunately the teaching of history has improved, in my experience

My education was 10-20 years after yours, but still quite a long time ago. So there were big events (including the loss of the Vietnam war) that were behind us. One thing that was really valuable was a history teacher who would take one class a week for discussion of current events - it was a dose of reality.

[Niagara]

162. +1000

Eloquently stated and absolutely true.

[llmart]

37. I don't know that I've ever gone so far as to say I love this country.

Even as a young child I always wondered why we thought we were so great as a country or that some accident of birth landed me here instead of somewhere else. I would think about all those people in other countries who loved their countries too because that's where they were born and where their roots were.

I do not believe in nationalistic fervor and extreme "patriotism", whatever that looks like. It's why all this outward show of the stupid trump humpers by having the largest flags, being the loudest to proclaim how much they love this country makes my skin crawl.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

181. Those belligerently ignorant bigots waving the American flag,

often alongside the battle flag of the Confederacy which waged a bloody war against our nation, while supporting & practically worshipping, as president, a blatantly mendacious sociopath who has never even read the US Constitution do not love this country.

I'm trying not to give up hope that this nation can someday live up to the best, most enlightened version of the ideals of its founding. As one person with little money or power, I have scant hope of bringing that about.

As part of a group working with common purpose, its possible I could help move the US toward the ideal. But it's hard to keep that faith when our opponents have so much wealth & power and such a fervant intention to move it in the opposite direction.

[Bettie]

38. I know we can do better that we can BE better

I just have no idea how to get there.

We have allowed the lunatic fringe to become the mainstream.

How do we reign that in to move forward?

[MaryMagdaline]

39. We just VOTED OUT a dictator. There was no violence at the polls

Other countries have been to this precipice and failed. Let’s grab the moment, celebrate, and do more.

[llmart]

43. When did they call the election for Biden?

n/t

[Takket]

40. i agree with you.........

even if biden BARELY eeks out a win here... there is little doubt that trumpism has metastasized into this soul of this nation and isn't going anywhere. in any other country on earth this election wouldn't even be close. maybe brazil or NK..... but this nation has been DRAGGED kicking and screaming far to the right..........

[wryter2000]

42. If I didn't live in Oakland

I’d be looking to leave

[flibbitygiblets]

92. Same here, but Portland. And we're still mulling over a "Trexit"

[LostinRed]

44. I went back and forth

I landed on I love this country and no way will allow these asshole to chase me out of my home. We need to stay and fight and not let them take our country away from us.

[jonstl08]

45. Deeply disturbed

For the life of me cannot understand why 60+million people still voted for Trump after seeing the crap show he has done for the last 4 years. They overlooked all his lies, 220+ deaths from the virus, his obstruction of justice, and impeachment. Why??? Only thing that comes to mind is racism. Somebody please explain it to me.

[caraher]

52. I think you got it

It's just hard to accept

[Stuart G]

65. Racism is it. Many kinds of racism: anti-immigrant, anti change, etc., BUT ACCEPTANCE TOO...

Anti Latino, etc...etc...and etc......One thing is true, ....Yes, lots of racism but in lots and lots of places,

lots and lots of "ACCEPTANCE"....

the electoral college is ..........not a TRUE REFLECTION OF THE U.S.A...

NOW........Biden has a clear lead in number of votes...hit link below....


https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=vOT&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGNI_enUS494US495&q=voting+results&gs_l=hp..0.0i433i131l4j0i433i131i457j41l3.0.0.0.11320...........0.QLD_Semdojg#spf=1604507557340

[bdamomma]

156. Biden has

238 EV, he just needs 32 more to meet the requirement.

There is still some hope.

[Evolve Dammit]

99. Engrained rascism for sure. Add cutthroat capitalism/ corporatism at the expense of your citizenry

and it's hard to defend. Decades of stagnant wages and soaring costs have crippled what was a vibrant middle class. I can't answer your question as to why so many choose to ignore facts (willfully ignorant and proud of it) and choose to embrace a sociopath. Makes little sense unless you feel maligned and see a savior? Closest I can come. Welcome to DU!

[lunasun]

113. Racism + the silence on racism desired . Greed -A big sector of wealth that doesn't want

any regulations or anything like ACA but plenty of subsidies for corporations and convinces peon workers repugs are for the best in life then adding racist arguements to support the greed.

Modern Jesus can also lead them to trump love strongholds

People clinging to The Covid not bad enough for masks and closures- The Freedumbs

Those are my tops

[caraher]

49. I'm disheartened that this could even be close - again

I had hoped that 2016 was a fluke, brought on in part by decades of focused right-wing hit jobs on our candidate. This time we run a middle-of-the-road white male with integrity light years ahead of Trump and we're looking at basically the same kind of popular vote margins?

This period of history is revealing what many of us have known for a long time about the gulf between our professed ideals and the reality of what white Americans truly believe, and are willing to say at the ballot box. I had a lot of optimism about generational change, the support of youth for Bernie and a progressive agenda, and yet it looks like the GOP is still able to strangle the best of these ideas (regardless of the Biden vote, the Senate seems out of reach and the courts have already been packed).

[SammyWinstonJack]

54. Be greatful you don't live in TN. I need to relocate to a blue state asap.

[GoCubsGo]

55. I don't know how I feel about it right now.

Beyond feeling immensely disappointed. And, sad.

I do share your sentiments about your home state. They apply to mine, as well. South Carolina is a fucking hellhole. Lincoln should have just let them go.

[hay rick]

56. Love yes, respect no.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

57. I'm still going to fly my USA flag outside AFTER...

... Biden/Harris are the EC winners as I expect, but even that is mostly an act of defiance to any Trumpanzees around here! It's not like I'm actually full of pride in this country!

I haven't displayed that flag since Obama was my President!

[Joinfortmill]

59. I hear you

[treestar]

60. We don't really know how those other countries would be

if they had the electoral college and something like the Senate. Their 40% could exist, they lose because they aren't the majority. Our system lets minority rule happen if its from the right states.

[jonstl08]

61. Telling my niece earlier

I know the election is not over but was discussing this with my niece earlier. Biden had no scandal. Is a good family man. Policy wise he is left of center so not far left. Only thing that comes to my mind as to why most people voted for Trump due to racism. Hillary had her own scandals which hurt her but the one thing both Hillary and Biden shared was they worked in the Obama White House. I know it should not matter but still feel a lot of people in the country still are upset we elected a Black man as President so they associated Biden with Obama. Plus Biden had a minority woman as his running mate.

[Jon King]

63. Its a coalition of the stupid...

The biggest dangers are climate change and that while these idiots teach their kids guns and gods, the Asian and Indian kids are being trained in science and technology. Some day the next generation of these Trumpers will be lucky to be parking the cars of the nerds who will run the future.

These dimwits have no idea how fast they are causing the US to fall behind the advancing world.

[Stuart G]

77. Right Now...Biden has a clear lead...10:30 Wednesday....

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=vOT&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGNI_enUS494US495&q=voting+results&gs_l=hp..0.0i433i131l4j0i433i131i457j41l3.0.0.0.11320...........0.QLD_Semdojg#spf=1604507557340

[bdamomma]

160. Welcome to DU

other than tRump being our biggest danger. Climate change is out there ever changing our environment which is being accelerated and exacerbated by man.

I hope there is a Biden win.

[appalachiablue]

227. Amen to all that and welcome to DU.

These dimwits have no idea how fast they are causing the US to fall behind the advancing world.

[cayugafalls]

64. I love this country.

I take issue with some of the poorly educated, willfully ignorant people who inhabit it, but that does not mean I do not love them, they are salvageable, I have to believe that fact as there is no where for me to go and sometimes you have to work with what you have.

Your mileage may vary...yes, I love my country.

[ailsagirl]

204. ...

[Liberal In Red State]

66. Amen Amen Amen

[Laha]

67. I've spent most of my life trashing Americans

Definitely from a condescending, assholish point of view. But this is a moment I feel you can prove me wrong. I want you to prove me wrong. The world is full of assholes, we know this. But it's also full of good people. I really hope enough good people stay strong and rise to this moment. The thought of another four years of this and what will spill over the border is unbearable.

Minor grammar edit.

[catbyte]

68. I'm seriously considering it, too. The only problem is, where? I'm only fluent in English, sadly,

and I'm too old to learn another language. Australia is on fire, New Zealand and Canada won't take me. There aren't many options. Plus, I have 3 cats so I need to think about them, too. Shit.

[DFW]

83. I always take my long(er) summer vacations in America even though I live in Europe. Here's where:

The outer tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. While Mass. has its share of Trumpanzees, the Cape, especially, also has a huge educated population, often extremely environmentally conscious, helpful, engaged, kind, and aware. It is a tourist-based economy with expensive property prices and high local taxes, but if you want to be surrounded by sane, generous, intellectually curious people, that is the place to be. My wife and I have decided that, southerner though I am, born and bred, if we ever move back (for me, that is) to the USA permanently, it's to Massachusetts we will go.

For the record, I have heard that the Santa Fe area of New Mexico is inhabited by an overwhelming majority of similarly pleasant people. A friend of mine who was in the CIA, until Cheney decided to spite her husband by ending her career, ended up moving out there, and she never regretted it.

[Poiuyt]

70. I still love America, but I've become very embarrassed at how backwards we've become

The anti-science, anti-intellectual trend here is deeply concerning.

[Mad_Dem_X]

112. Same here.

I still love my country, but am embarrassed at all the ignorance and hate of a certain amount of people.

[malthaussen]

71. I think that is an overreaction.

It is common to believe that what sees is what must be seen by any person with vision, that one's own definition of a thing is the only definition, and that those who react differently to our own perceptions must be either mendacious or ignorant. From that standpoint, it is a crushing blow to find that half of the population of the US cannot see what is plainly before them.

Beware that feeling. Flip the coin, and that is just the problem your opponents have with you.

-- Mal

[Biophilic]

72. Bull Crap!

If something is worth fighting for it's worth fighting for. My family goes back to 1624. We had people fighting on each side of every conflict since then (except probably the Spanish-American War). This country has always been difficult and contentious. That doesn't mean we should just give up on it.

Yeah, we haven't done so well living up to the founding ideals, but they were at best skewed. They were NOT basically wrong. They are worth fighting for. Perhaps we are all just too soft and used to getting are own way. We really are the spoiled "teenagers" others have accused us of being.

I haven't a clue how, but I intend to spend whatever years I have left in fighting for those things I believe in, like decency, rule of law, respect for others. I'm not willing to give up on this country and its ideals. I'm just not.

[hurple]

73. Yes

Very much feeling this way these days.

[Pacifist Patriot]

75. I honestly didn't realize how many Americans lacked common decency and common sense.

That has depressed the hell out of me. Every single local race in my municipality and county went again to the Republicans. I can't live in this community anymore.

We'd already been considering a move in a few years when our youngest is in college and the pandemic is over. This morning I spent a lot of time cleaning and throwing things away to prepare for a move even sooner. My husband and I have learned we both have jobs that can be done effectively from anywhere in the world. I'd love to emigrate to the UK or a Scandinavian country, but I know that's not remotely realistic. It will be somewhere in the US that is solidly blue.

I've battled for Democratic values to be restored in Florida for almost a quarter century now. I'm worn out. I don't know the exact date or where we'll end up, but we're definitely leaving the place where we raised our kids (they have no interest in returning here after university) and called home for half our lives. We won't look back.

[yaesu]

78. I've been done with this country for good since '16, the damage is done & no election will change

that for me. Would love to leave this shithole country but no country will take ameriKans unless they are rich or have a super powers skill like Iron man.

[Traildogbob]

79. I am with you

And I served. Draft number was too high to go, but I joined. I am sick I gave that time for this shithole country. I don’t wanna hear a single damn thank you this Veterans Day. I will not celebrate, will never stand for that anthem or ever salute the flag until this shit is ended. I will salute every trump with the Natzi straight arm. Fuck Natzi MurKKKa! My oath still applies. Will not hesitate to stand my ground against this shit.

[vercetti2021]

81. Oh yeah that ship has sailed

I'm always 30 and I have to be here for maybe 50-60 years? This fucking country so rotten it's just not even worth it anymore

[Hanzzy72]

82. I hear you

And I feel the same way about my state of North Carolina. I'm having serious talks with the rest of the family about moving to a blue state...we have put up with this shit for too long.

[Major Nikon]

85. Look at it this way, there's a lot to be optimistic about

Regardless of the final election totals, the trend of the GOP's demise is abundantly clear. Demographics are going to continue to work against them. When the GOP has to invest money in Texas just to hold on to it, you know they are swirling the bowl.

What we are seeing now is a wounded beast fighting a losing battle to stay alive. The message given is the GOP is going to have to distance themselves from their creme-de-la-dum if they want to win elections and in doing so they are going to have to move a lot farther left.

[rwsanders]

91. I'm with you. Even if we take the presidency, the filth in this country will never be cleansed.

“I know of no other country where love of money has such a grip on men’s hearts or where stronger scorn is expressed for the theory of permanent equality of property” – Alexis de Tocqueville

How about adding that we have a beautiful country with lots of natural wonders, but we are allowing it to be raped and demolished for the personal profit of the very few.
They are destroying what belongs to all of us. And I'm most sick of those who live in pristine areas voting AGAINST protecting natural areas. If you are too scared of nature FUCKING MOVE to the burbs. If you don't believe nature should be protected FUCKING MOVE TO HOUSTON.

And all the "religious" white folks. Hey if you are lurking, trolling or if folks here just need a simple confrontational statement here it is:
IF YOU THINK YOU ARE CHRISTIAN and REPUBLICAN, you either don't understand Jesus, or you don't understand republicans.

I'm also sick to death of these obsequious fools waving the flag and shoving it in people's faces while racing toward servile fascism. They don't even understand America. See the whole gun thing isn't about protecting from the government, hell the government could take them out with a drone strike in their sleep. They are just obsessed with the idea of being able to shoot minorities.

But WHERE to go? My wife and I just haven't hit on a great place.

New Zealand and Canada are not wonders of environmental care or equality either. New Zealand is about to allow the fishermen there to destroy the last of the Maui (Hector's) dolphin. Canada is the origin of the tar sands flowing through the Dakota Access Pipeline and still allows fishermen to bash in the heads of baby seals because seals "take all of the fish" DESPITE the fact that there were more fish and MORE SEALS before they started raping the ocean with industrialized fishing (the book COD: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World covers it well). Both nations still struggle with indigenous rights.
France swings from far left to far right like we do and they were the ones that sank a Greenpeace ship in a port in New Zealand that was out to protest nuclear testing in the Pacific.
I almost had her talked into Ireland, but other nations just promote enough doctors. There isn't really a role for Nurse Practitioners. I'm not even sure that my credentials would transfer.
I keep watching all the articles about where US ex-pats are going hoping something will click as I'm sure they will want US level healthcare there.

[Dukkha]

94. Not just no but He'll F*cking No!

It is not just illogical but dangerous to have an emotional attachment to a nation state for no other reason than you just happened to be born on that borderless land mass which occupies a miniscule part of a pale blue dot that orbits one of a hundred billion stars in our galaxy. I am one with the late great Kurt Vonnegut. I am a man without a country.

[joewicker_TX]

96. I am completely disheartened...

It astonishes me that tRump got the number of votes he did. I cannot understand how there are THAT MANY people in this country that say its Ok to put kids in cages, kill Americans, embrace bat shit crazy conspiracy theories, reject science and treat people as hatefully and ugly as that troll does. We aren't great anymore. As one of my old history professor chums pointed out...what made America great to begin with was exactly what the Right represents now. If tRump wins...America is unrecognizable in 4 years and for generations to come. If Biden wins, it will be a miserable presidency with the Senate wreaking havoc at every turn. There just isn't a silver lining to any of this....and it kills me to know that as a whole we could have been better...but we chose not to.

[NoMoreRepugs]

97. Right there with you GoodHeart. Floridian for the last 22 years and I've begun to look at the

entire country as I once viewed Florida - the dumbfuck state where everything goofy in the news originated. There are so many ignorant goobers n gomers in America now I no longer recognize it as I once did. I am a soon to be 71 year old that is sad beyond comprehension.

[karin_sj]

98. I'm so disappointed in our country

And really, really sad that so many of our fellow citizens are horrible people.

[maxsolomon]

102. Been struggling with this issue since before I could vote.

Being the child of guitar-mass liberal Catholics turned Reagan voters does that to a sensitive kid.

I love the beauty of the land, I love the vibrant culture that constantly delights me, but I do not love suburban, exurban, and rural white people.

Stubborn, willful ignorance is not something to love.

[Blue_true]

103. Good luck finding a place that doesn't have racism and sexism and other ills.

I have the stomach to stay and fight for change, sometimes I will win, sometimes I will lose, but I stay in the fight and I fight strategically.

[betsuni]

108. Seriously.

[George II]

104. I love the country, hate ALL republicans. The only way they stay in power is to cheat!

[Roc2020]

105. I'm really surprised. I thought Biden would win easily

Even if he squeaks out a win the celebration is muted. What a statement America made about the country 50% voting for Trump. Disgusting

[Marthe48]

109. I love the U.S.A.

I wouldn't be so worried if I didn't.

I realized years ago that in my belief of a government for the people, I was walking on my own and dragging the gullible along with me. But that is okay. I am selfish, because I want what I grew up having, or the expectation of having. I never dreamed that so many people didn't understand the concept of helping each other and on that of that, helping others. My God, everything from classes in school to televsion, books, life examples, led me to the belief that not only did I live in the best country in the world, but with a government and society that was unique in history, and a beacon for the world. Now that I am older, I don't see the U.S. like a carnival midway at night, more like a carnival in the morning before it opens, where you can see the aging equipment, haggard faces, and flies on the ponies. But still love the effort, and won't stop.

I grew up in the 1960's and it is amazing to me that my generation was villifed for hating America, and now, we are villified for loving it.

[Thyla]

110. The countries you mentioned will take immigrants from the USA

Just right now due to covid they are not letting anyone in.
Ride out covid and use your time to plan and research.

Some countries are easier than others to move to but if you have some sort of skill or qualifications then you may qualify.

[Oscarthegreat]

111. As a psycologist

As a psychology major who once wrote a dissertation on cults, I can explain it only by the fact that Trumpism is a deeply addicting and damaging cult. Trump is the cult leader/guru/messiah who is infallible in the eyes of his followers. I would go as far as to say that if Trump had raped and killed the sister of one of his cblind followers that person would find a way to justify it and would still vote for him. Trump is the Jim Jones of our time, and his followers are the Peoples Temple cult members who would willingly drink the poisoned punch.

I did not support Biden in the primaries, but I can't blame him for not achieving a landslide victory. Because he was facing nearly half of the population who are blind, fact free, alternate reality, conspiracy afflicted cultists, and the crazy archaic Electoral College scam, it would be just about impossible for any Democrat to peel off enough Trump cultists in the fly over states to ensure a landslide victory.

[zentrum]

115. Yup. Feels unbearable

….to live in a country where such racist, cruel, ignorant people live in large numbers.

Every one I know is longing to get out.

Poor Biden. I think the country has been left in an ungovernable condition.

[CatLady78]

118. Most other parts of the world are no different

We are insane and regressive as a species and that is true the world over...

[marie999]

119. Marie is 72 and her husband is 77. They like living here in Maysville, a small town half white and

half poc. It's a quiet town about 15 miles North of Jacksonville NC which is heavily populated by Marines, veterans, and their spouses and whose families mostly seem to be biracial. Our town is the kind of town where if you are in a hurry don't go into a store where the owner is alone because you will end up talking about your families and weather for at least half an hour. An hour if the owner has a new grand-child. You don't see pickup trucks driving around with trump or confederate flags and very few political signs even though it is highly Republican. People would rather hug you instead of shaking hands, but unfortunately, you can't do that now. You won't go into a store and see someone who is not wearing a mask. We really love this place. I just reread my post and in my mind, it sounded like something the Manager in Our Town would say so I rewrote the first couple of lines.

[Lonestarblue]

120. I love the country--I just don't love a lot of the people in it.

Here’s what yesterday’s Republican vote said to me.

We know Donald Trump and most members of his administration are destroying the federal government and we don’t care. The only people who benefit from the federal government are the minorities and illegals on welfare.

We know that Trump lies about everything and is taking taxpayer money for his golf courses, and we think that’s fine.

We know that hundreds of thousands more of our citizens will die from Covid-19 because Trump will do nothing to prevent it, and we are fine with that.

We know that the jobs of millions of hotel, airline, restaurant, and travel industry workers have been lost, many of which will be permanent as small businesses go out of business, and we don’t care because we have our jobs and for some of us our 401ks are still healthy.

We know that Trump and Republicans will eventually get rid of the ACA and deprive over 20 million of our fellow citizens of health insurance, but we don’t care because if you can’t get insurance through your employer, then you just need to change jobs. In any event, it’s your problem, not ours.

We know that Trump and Republicans are for racist policies that hurt minorities and for militarized police who shoot black people to kill without provocation, but we’re white so we don’t care. If you don’t like the situation, go back to Africa.

We know that Trump hates LGBTQ just as much as we do, so we are okay with any laws to take away their rights and force them back in the closet where we don’t ever have to see them again.

We are especially okay with putting unqualified extremist judges on the federal courts and the Supreme Court because we believe that women should have no rights other than those granted to them by their fathers or husbands and if they have sex they should be forced to bear the consequences, including giving birth in an unwanted pregnancy or even dying with an ectopic or other dangerous pregnancy. We want the laws of the US government to be written to enforce our religious beliefs, especially patriarchal rule and the vindictive punishment of those who offend us.

We believe in science only when it benefits us, as when we get cancer and need the best treatment to save our lives (because we’re insured), but we refuse to believe in the science of climate warming because Democrats do believe in it. That’s enough for us. We don’t care if fires burn all of of California. That’s their problem.

We voted for Trump and Republicans because we know they will do everything possible to protect our white privilege and to prevent more Muslims, or black or brown black or Asian immigrants from coming to this country. It belongs to white people only.


These are the attitudes of almost half this country that I cannot and will never accept. How I personally get beyond despising a significant portion of my fellow citizens is something I haven’t figured out yet. I just find it all terribly depressing at the moment.

[bdamomma]

169. Very well said

and true.

As George Carlin said "It's a big club and you ain't in it".

[IronLionZion]

123. I don't love the racist hateful idiots who voted to make America worse for the rest of us

They have proven they don't mind drowning in rising sea levels or getting sick with COVID as long as the people they hate get it worse.

[Loge23]

124. Right there with you, Goodheart.

Never mind the fact that he's indeed "an obvious hideous monstrous moronic evil con man". A psychopath who has blatantly lied over 20,000 times to Americans. A man with virtually no significant accomplishments to benefit our country, but one also with one horrendous mishandling of the pandemic. Somehow, some 60+ million zombies have decided that those dubious qualities are worth a second term.

So yes, I don't love the USA either - haven't for some time now. American's can chant their guttural U-S-A, U-S-A nonsense at world sporting events, all the while as their "beloved country" falls in virtually every measurable category in the world against other developed countries. And that's just it - we're not a developed country anymore; we're a collection of ignorant, uneducated idiots who resent the half of us whom are not. They hate everything that we hold dear, including respect for the ideals that so many died for up until WW2.

Louisianians? Hell, I live in Florida, in a until recently, blue county. The zombies completely ran the table here - down the ballot. Biden lost by less than 2,000 votes here. All of our work for the last few years is lost. We elected a moron for State House - a seat held for decades by Dems and an incumbent who has been a well-known activist for the environment and public education. The moron's pitch? "I'll show up!". Of course she will, she need the steady work after failing at every other job she has held.

We re-elected to Congress a wounded war vet who the pukes planted here from Michigan over a Navy JAG. That a tape was discovered with the guy joking with a child sex predator friend about young girls in Thailand was not enough to expose this former "explosives expert" who expertly stepped on a IED blowing off his legs. Republican sex scandals are de rigueur for their candidates now.

Fuck this place and fuck all the brain-dead zombies that couldn't bring themselves to saving what's left of our democracy, in favor of their own misguided racist, and ignorant beliefs. Unfortunately for us, regardless of the outcome, we can't leave - no one will have us.

[barbtries]

125. i love it, but

it's been a long time since i believed i was lucky to be an American.

i love my oldest brother and my lifelong friend, but i can't talk to them anymore, and that's America.

[kimbutgar]

126. I am angry that 60 million support a racist liar who is ok with their fellow Americans are dying

From Covid 19 which he handled badly and it didn’t have to be the disaster it is that we will suffer from for many years to come. I have been watching national tv news and they idiot on who still support him and think he’s done a great job and is a successful businessman. Not knowing he’s bankrupted his multiple companies, stiffed at least 4000 contractors and is a serial rapist.

[moondust]

128. I lived in Europe for a couple years.

I'll never forget boarding the plane in early 1976 to return to the U.S. and being overcome by an overwhelming sense of dread.

[GoneOffShore]

133. When I chose my screen name back when I first registered, it was wishful thinking.

Now we live in France.

In three more years, we'll be able to apply for French citizenship. Initially I wasn't going to, but now? Definitely. We need to have a fallback.

[Ferrets are Cool]

135. I don't love what this country stands for any longer.

[Rice4VP]

136. I'm glad to live in a Blue state and a Blue city

I don’t have to interact with racist Deplorables

[bdamomma]

170. I think

for sanity wise people will consider moving to a blue state, if they want a new perspective.

[llashram]

138. just under half this country's voting populace

is wilfully every negative you have pointed to in your post and they are not loved nor respected as human beings to me. They are rabid animals following THEIR rabid leader of the pack.

As one of the disabled american "loser" "sucker" vets as trump the coward referred to us as, I truly feel very stupid for allowing myself to ever feel this country would offer any POC a fair chance at all to that which is a given for the entitled of this country. While President Obama did show that wilfully ignorant people can make mistakes, being as racist as they are not one of them would believe President Obama had a chance, therefore they were surprised to wake up to a POTUS who happened to be a POC in 2008. Yet in 2016, with the 180% turn this country took, I was shown that the mistake by the racist 40% bloc of amerikkkan voter in 2008 would NEVER be made again.

Having grown up in a career military family I volunteered for the Army. 1049'd to Vietnam believing Kissingers 'domino theory' bullshit. Another repthuglican lie. Was poisoned with Dow Chemical's Agent Orange. Have been fighting cancer, attributed to AO, for the last 3 years.

I am hating the pollsters this moring. HITF could they have been so wrong about the #'s? How could they have misled so easly? I expected the traitors in red to show up election day and no one in the Democratic Party leadership or strategists didn't?

I just don't get it. To hell with it. This country's racist-white supremacists, over 40% last count, will never change their stripes.

[Upthevibe]

139. Hi Goodheart...

....... I know. That's what's so horribly, horribly heartbreaking.....that so many of our fellow citizens support an effining monster...

[mchill]

140. I live in a Blue town, in a Red County in a Blue state

Small rural forested ranching county. I hate even knowing one of my neighbors is so ignorant (he is) and votes for Trump. Very bad masking policies in all of the hardware stores.

I’m working on my dual citizenship papers with Canada. I have one foot over the border now.

[LymphocyteLover]

142. Honestly, I never "loved" the USA

I love parts of it, especially the values that us Dems and liberals value. But it's hard to love a country with so many awful awful people.

[Scalded Nun]

143. Not much different in neighboring Texas.

I have really come to detest this state and all of the people enabling the shitty behavior and policies. Our plans were/are to:
1. Leave the country if Trump steals the election (he cannot win honestly). We are almost 70 but just cannot watch this downward spiral anymore. We just cannot deal with this shroud of darkness. All other things aside, Trump is a self-confessed and indicted traitor, acquitted only due to a corrupt Senate. Anyone still supporting him is just as treasonous. So, almost 1/2 of our country is made up of traitors. How do you get past that? I cannot.
2. Leave the state for a blue state if the in-state election goes badly. Well, it has. The really solid, good people have lost and evil has prevailed here once again. Texas is a shit-hole state in a shit-hole country and is over 1/2 full of fucking traitors. How do you get past that? I cannot.

I do not mean to be down and depressed, but I am. Leaving Texas will not solve anything within the state, but it will at least afford us an opportunity to live in a state where people are cared for, encouraged, and offered a hand-up. We do not want to see any more fellow citizens with a boot shoved in their face just because they need help or are not the right gender or color.